A man who filmed himself running down a koala just outside the Tower Hill State Game Reserve west of Warrnambool, Victoria has been jailed for three months.
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Matthew James Sinnott, 21 pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday, May 20, 2024, to aggravated animal cruelty, using a mobile phone while driving and failing to keep left.
"This was a really challenging exercise," Magistrate Simon Guthrie told Sinnott in sentencing.
"This was not unplanned. This was planned. You videoed it with the intention to distribute it to friends. It's aggravated for that very reason.
This is a serious example of cruelty to an animal. I don't know what sort of person does that.
- Magistrate Simon Guthrie
"It's with great disappointment that at 21 years old I see no alternative than to jail you for three months from today."
Sinnott was also fined $1000 with court costs for the driving offences.
"I haven't seen the video. I have heard the video. It's just too serious for any other sentence," Mr Guthrie said, adding he had considered jailing Sinnott for six months.
Sinnott appealed against the severity of the sentence and was bailed until an appeal hearing in the county court on a date to be fixed.
'Who wants me to hit a f... animal?'
Police said that in December 2023 a video was provided to Koroit police involving Sinnott purposelessly running down a koala.
The driver narrated himself as he drove over the koala on Lake View Road at Koroit, which borders the Tower Hill State Game Reserve.
In the video footage, Sinnott asks: "Who wants me to hit a f... animal?", before he turns around his phone camera and shows the road ahead.
"Oh, lookie here, we've got a little koala," he said.
The video then shows footage of Scenic Drive and a "small to medium size" koala walking on the roadway, which was blinded by Sinnott's Ford Territory high beam headlights.
Police said Sinnott then crossed over to the right-hand side of the road and lined up the koala, saying: "Oh, oh, boom".
He then drove over the top of the koala's head and body, the front of the Ford Territory lifting up on impact.
The 12-second video footage then finishes.
'A pretty dumb thing'
On December 23 Sinnott went to the Koroit police station where an interview was recorded on body worn camera footage.
Sinnott said that on a date in early November, about 10pm at night, he was driving a Ford Territory along Lake View Road when he was returning from cricket training.
He said he had turned around after running over the koala and saw the animal walking away and that it appeared to be uninjured.
A wildlife expert said it was improbable the koala was not injured considering the Ford Territory was almost two tonnes and being driven at 60kmh.
Sinnott said he was coming home and saw the koala on a bend about 10pm at night.
"It was a pretty dumb thing," he said.
Sinnott has no prior court appearances and the maximum penalty for aggravated animal cruelty is two years' imprisonment and/or a fine of almost $100,000.
A lawyer for Sinnott said the offending was very serious, outrageous, disgraceful behaviour and had offended the whole community, but the incident was opportunistic and not a planned action.
"He's had to face himself and the broader community. His peers took this matter to police. Clearly they thought it was unacceptable. The video was sent to peers, through Snapchat to a group," she said.
"It was not sophisticated. Was done in the moment. He doesn't know why, but acknowledges what he's done and takes responsibility."
The lawyer said Sinnott had made early admissions, demonstrated remorse, he had been confronted by people in the community, also had difficult conversations with his parents and faced people who did not want to give him a reference.
"He's lost friends," she said.
The magistrate said Sinnott got out his phone, crossed the road and while filming and narrating himself he ran down the koala.
"It's why I hate social media," he said, adding there was "zero" chance the koala was not injured and it probably walked away to die.
Mr Guthrie said on the video it was possible to hear the impact of the Ford Territory and the koala.
He said deterrence, both specific and general, and denunciation were primary sentencing principles.
He said he had received character references from Sinnott's current and former employers, a brother, his cricket club and there was a letter from his mother.
